Alice

Grateful for fifteen minutes of peace, Alice snuck away to the drugstore. She didn't like the idea of Jasper not finding her there when he woke up, but in this early hour, she appreciated the moment to herself as she strolled the aisles... almost like a normal person without a microphone attached to her waist or people following her with cameras.

She'd just started her period, and it was a reminder — a stupid confirmation of how she wasn't pregnant—not that she wanted to be. Since they'd gotten together, and she knew he was clean—each contender fully tested for STDs — she and Jasper had been lax with their birth control. What he said was true; dragging a baby into a marriage was not a good idea until things were on firm ground. Sure, Jasper had agreed to quit smoking, but in his low moments, he had his doubts. First, they had to get that under control. Plus, she'd become more diligent about the timing of his cravings because she knew he would need more support.

There it was again.

Free from the leash of cameras, she still felt she was being watched. Alice tipped her head over her shoulder, finding the feminine products aisle clear—not even a store employee. She didn't sense any danger, but still with curiosity piqued, she grabbed a box of tampons, dropped it into her hand basket, and stole to the end of the aisle. The feeling struck her again like a buzzing mosquito. That was where she saw her: the woman, Jasper's friend from the reception.

"Hi there," Alice said, approaching her. "You're Maria, right?"

No way in hell was Alice going to be spied on.

Maria turned to her, holding a tube of lipstick between her manicured fingers and offered a big smile. "You have a very good memory, Alice."

Alice recalled Jasper's discomfort with Maria's presence, but had been so upset finding him smoking a cigarette that the appearance of this beauty hardly fazed her. This woman, Maria, stood there, and it wasn't quite 7 am, looking all put together, black hair long and curled, heavy on the mascara, but quite the natural beauty and with her height and hourglass figure, it was difficult not to feel a little envious. Though, Alice couldn't bring herself to feel threatened or jealous. If Jasper desired, he could have been with her. "What a surprise seeing you here in Arizona."

Of course, this led to the curiosity of where he'd lived when he knew her. She imagined Texas, but people moved.

"I'm here on business."

"What sort of business do you do?"

"I work for a makeup manufacturer — you've heard of Elle makeup."

"Of course."

"So, I travel a lot, you know, confer about successful placement of our cosmetics." The more Maria spoke, the more noticeable her accent became. "When it isn't doing so well, they send me to troubleshoot or remove the line from the retailer."

"That's very interesting. Running into you here is quite a coincidence," Alice said, although she didn't believe in coincidences.

"I was just thinking about you and Jasper. I would love to catch up."

That was how Alice found herself setting the table for 3, but waiting for the right moment to tell him. Her new husband wouldn't be happy about it, but it was too late to withdraw the invite. Alice had already given the interview to the producer to catch them up to speed on Jasper's friend.

Their mikes were on, and she wished to have this conversation privately, but he'd already been done with his shower when she returned home.

"Wait. You invited Maria for brunch? Here? What! Why?"

"Now, Jas, you said she was an old friend, and she seemed eager to catch up."

"Still… I don't want her here."

The tension was rolling off him, and Alice became more distressed by his reaction. So what if Maria was a former girlfriend? It was obviously a long time ago. What threat could she be now?

"She seemed perfectly nice."

"Yeah, well, you don't know her."

"That's why I invited her here. To get to know her."

His gaze darted all over, his body shifting in all directions, and she wondered if he might flee. "Alice, this is a bad idea."

"I think we should give her a chance."

He shook his head. "She is trouble."

"Maybe she's changed. When did you last see her? How many years ago?"

"She will never change."

"Awww, Jas. Maybe this is my bad. Okay, can you explain to me why you don't want to see her? And if she's so horrible, I'll cancel."

He looked like a deer in headlights. "Alice, I just wish you would trust me."

"On our wedding day, you told me she was an old friend. So, you were either lying to me then or you are lying to me now. Which is it?"

"There are things about me, Alice. I'm going to tell you, but it's going to be my choice, you hear me? Maria is not coming here!"

Jasper

About 25 minutes later:

The three sat around the table and Maria had a mike clipped to the black silk fabric of her top as she explained how she handled accounts in Mexico and overseas.

How had the show found her? His head spun as he considered this. Here, she sat, chatting with his new bride, perfectly reasonable and nice, wearing a skirt suit like a professional instead of the way he remembered her during their reception in a dress that emphasized her breasts. His mind mulled over the possibilities; her hatching a master plan to "borrow" a vehicle without getting caught, and he would pay the price for it. Those high school days weighed on him as she sipped her tea, smiling as if she was enjoying their company. Maria wanted something; he had no clue what it was, and he didn't want her exposing his troublesome past. Unless he'd read this all wrong. She was acting normal, but was she pretending for the camera… or could she have changed? Oddly, he didn't sense any malice in her presence.

"How did the two of you meet?"

Jasper rolled his eyes. Here we go…

"We met in high school, and my family came here from Mexico, as you can tell by my accent, and I barely spoke a few words of English. Jasper took pity on me. He was practicing his Spanish, pretty good at it, and he was the only one who would talk to me."

"Oh sweet!"

"Yeah, not as much as it sounds," he said.

Maria actually made it seem nice the way she told it. She left out her anger issues, and how anytime she had trouble with bullies, she seduced Jasper into fighting for her. Being a young man with his own anger issues, Jasper happily obliged. They became quite a duo after a while, with Maria now picking fights and Jasper settling them for her.

"You were together, weren't you?" Alice asked.

Maria answered for both of them, "You picked up on that! Don't worry. We were kids, and it wasn't serious."

"I wasn't worried. That was years ago."

"Can we not talk about this? How about your family, Maria? How are they?" Jasper asked, wondering if Alonzo's drug trafficking had finally got them all deported or him killed. He felt sorry for Maria; she was one of three kids, dragged to a new country but whose uncle had roped her father into the business. Tired of struggling to make ends meet, Maria's dad was lured into a very profitable and dangerous sort of work.

"Dead," she said, her lips in a frown. "I'm sorry to say things didn't end well for them. They deported my father, sent him to jail, and he's not allowed to come back. I'm not sure if he's still alive."

Jasper had not expected that and sensed her bitterness as she said it. Seems their lives had been a series of tough breaks. "I'm sorry to hear that. And your brothers?"

"One was in a gang and killed in a shooting, and the other is okay. I made sure of it."

"Pedro?" Her slightly younger brother had not wanted to come to the states, and with his strong-willed nature, it would have been difficult to deter him from that life once he started. Then there was her baby brother Sol, and she was fiercely protective of him. Times were hard, as they had very little money at first, and once her dad was gone, her mother had to provide for all of them.

Her lips tightened, and she nodded.

"So, how did you get into the makeup industry?" Alice asked, and their faces showed visible relief for the subject change.

For the next half hour, Maria talked about how her family needed money and she had gotten a job as a merchandiser and worked her way up in the company. Years later, she traveled to and from Mexico with contracts in South and Central America.

Still, Jasper couldn't help being suspicious; she was hiding something. He no longer felt threatened by her, but a certain unease persisted... yet he couldn't pinpoint it. He prayed she wasn't pretending and evading the law…or something.

If so, why would she consent to being filmed here for national TV? And worse, what was it she wanted from him? How far would she go to get it?

Maria glanced at her watch and took a sip from her cup. "I have to run. I have an appointment across town. Thank you for having me, and I really enjoyed the meal, Alice. I'm glad we got to know each other better."

That was it. Alice cleared the dishes, and Jasper resisted chasing after her. He wanted to demand answers. What was she doing there? What did she want? Was she going to expose him on camera? Was she waiting for the show to end and then ruin his life? He imagined that since she was also there, she couldn't risk her own participation. When she left, he breathed a very long sigh of relief. How he itched for a cigarette.

"Oh my God!" Alice's voice shouted, followed by the sound of a dish breaking.

He ran in and found her looking down at pieces of glass scattered across her tile floor. "What is it? Are you okay?"

The camera watched as Alice blinked and shifted her gaze between Jasper and the floor. "Well, that was clumsy."

"What just happened?"

"Nothing… I just thought I was having a vision. It's been weeks, and it caught me by surprise."

"A vision of what?"

"You were …smoking. I caught you smoking in the backyard and surprised you and you dropped the cigarette into a plant and it caught fire…it was silly. No big deal." She bent over and picked up the shattered ceramic pieces.

Jasper took the hint. The camera was rolling, and she didn't want to reveal what she really saw. "How much of a chance is there that will come true?"

"Well," she said, going along with him, "maybe it's just a warning. Don't smoke near my plants. Or better yet, don't smoke at all." She tapped him on the nose.

She'd shifted the attention to his smoking, which was fine for now and more than okay once he got his craving taken care of. It wasn't until later that night when the still red glow from the corner camera assured them of their privacy.

"Alice," he whispered. All day he waited to speak to her alone, now on edge with the numerous possibilities of what she observed. "Your vision. It wasn't about my smoking, was it?"

"No," she replied, turning and shifting her position on the bed so that she was now facing him. "But it's private, and it wasn't a good time to talk about it."

"What did you see?"

She took a breath, and her gaze looked faraway as if she observed something not visible to the naked eye. "I saw you outside a restaurant and you met with Maria, and…"

He didn't like the sound of this already. "And what?"

"She was standing beside a young man, dark hair, maybe about 17, 18 years old. He held his hand out to you to shake, and you couldn't believe your eyes when you saw him."

His brows drew together. "Young man? Who do you think he is?"

Alice's eyes met his. "Well, he had dark eyes, stood very tall, had her confidence. I'm sure it was her son."

"Maria has a son?!"

She took her hand in his. "Yes, and judging by his build and curly hair and resemblance, you do, too."

A/N: dun, dun, dun! Alerts still not working, and I appreciate you finding the update and reading. Many thanks to you all for sticking with me, for following and especially to the reviewers. I so appreciate the feedback and interest. Next up: what happens when Emmett finds out more about Bella's secret obsession? By the way, I added a small side effect to Bella's drinking if anyone is curious to go back to chapter 27 ;) Thanks again for reading!